The Haiku Project

Simple, yet, not.

There exists a pivotal moment in every new engineer's career—a project they approach with anticipation, expecting simplicity, only to be met with a labyrinth of challenges and revelations. This seemingly straightforward project serves as their initiation into the complexities of the field, where each solution unravels a new layer of intricacy, and every triumph is met with yet another hurdle to surmount.

Please enjoy this installment of Building Bones where I take a few minutes to chat with one of my team’s engineers. He explains the value that comes from meeting challenges with tenacity as he’s building our buildings' bones.

Building Bones is a Miller Consulting Engineers series of articles highlighting the fascinating work being done by a small, Oregon-grown structural engineering firm located in Portland, Oregon. We hope you enjoy meeting our team.

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MEET JORDAN

HOW MANY YEARS HAVE YOU BEEN IN ENGINEERING?

Ten. (All that time with Miller.)

WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO PURSUE A CAREER IN STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING?

I've had a rather meandering career path. I guess my foray into buildings began when I helped my dad build a shop on our property (and later an addition to our home). I found that buildings just make sense in my head. My senior year in high school my dad took a job in the US. I followed my family to America shortly after graduating, and started college for computer science. After nearly two years of school completed, I took a detour and went into contracting for eight years before transitioning to engineering. ?

WHAT QUALITIES MAKE AN ENGINEER EXCEPTIONAL?

FOCUS AND TENACITY. Everybody gets a project fairly early in their career and they think it is simple. And they start doing it. And they just run into challenge after challenge, and it takes too long and they feel like they’re failing. I had a house in the Gorge that was my challenge structure. The foundation had been completed and then the house was abandoned for 6 years. When the owners decided to finish the build, they had a new set of plans they wanted built on the old foundation. I found myself coming into the office about 5 am every day just to make headway. This deceptively simple home took all my energy and focus. I’d been engineering for about 6 months at this point, and this was my first super-frustrating project. Everyone has one of those. And, as you push through, you learn so much. It’s important. To be exceptional in anything you’ve got to stick with it. You have to get through the pieces and then understand them.? These are the projects that really enable growth so I try to embrace them and not avoid. I know I'll be a better engineer when I am on the other side of the project.

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU OFFER TO NEWER ENGINEERS?

Don’t determine a focus too early. I would encourage new engineers to try a bunch of different things to find out what they really enjoy and what they’re really good at. A broad range of project types will inform your future design abilities and help you find your niche. This is something we do well here at Miller. We? can work with a wide range of materials and building types, exploring and learning about structures and broadening our skillsets. Learn to learn and then find what you like.

HOW DOES YOUR EXPERIENCE AS A CONTRACTOR INFORM YOUR ABILITIES AS AN ENGINEER?

My construction experience allows me to visualize my designs with a 3D perspective. I’m able to know what the guys in the field are doing and am better able to design with a working knowledge of how the elements will go together. Knowing how materials and structures go together in the field is often a considerable challenge for many newer engineers who don’t have a working knowledge of construction. They often don’t know the hidden conditions they need to consider as impacting or being impacted by their designs.

HOW DO YOU APPROACH BALANCING SAFETY, FUNCTIONALITY, AND AESTHETICS IN YOUR STRUCTURAL DESIGNS?

I would say my priorities are safety, builder capacity, and simplicity. I want the structures to be easy to put together and build. I don’t want contractors to have to buy a special tool to do what they need to do. Aesthetics is hard, as most of what we do that matters is not seen. We’re designing the bones of the structures. And, really, when it is seen, it’s up to the contractor to give the finish to the material that’s been identified for use (in keeping with the architect’s or owner’s specifications.)

WHAT ROLES DO SUSTAINABILITY AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONSIDERATIONS PLAY IN YOUR STRUCTURAL DESIGNS?

In terms of sustainability decisions, we are typically not participants in the decision-making about the type of structures needed. Those decisions come from the owners. As structural engineers, our call regarding environmental considerations is to look for efficiency and cost effectiveness in terms of what we design. We don’t want to?overdesign and waste material. And, we want our buildings to be easy to construct. Our priorities are to make them safe while meeting our clients’ purposes.

I enjoy projects where the initial structure is past its prime and instead of tearing it down we get a chance to repurpose it and make it useful again. I’m working on a lot of different projects right now. But, one in particular is an old historic barn that I am assessing for stability and improvement repairs. It's being repurposed for storage for a local water district.

WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE ASPECT OF BEING A PART OF THE TEAM AT MILLER?

Opportunity. Miller is a good company. I like the atmosphere, the freedom. They’re really family focused and value their employees.

HOW DO YOU SPEND YOUR LEISURE TIME?

I rather fell into coaching baseball because my son likes it. (This is my second season with his league.) I also spend time helping friends with their contracting needs (roofs, additions, etc.) and vehicle, repairs. As long as I am staying busy, I guess I’d call that leisure time. I don’t like to sit around.

Thanks for reading about our team and the art of structural engineering. Miller Consulting Engineers has been developing structural solutions for over 45 years. And, we’re licensed in 41 states. You can check out our project gallery on our website www.miller-se.com. Stay tuned for more interviews “behind the screens”, with the folks whose passion it is to make our structures possible and safe.

Jane Mayfaire, Business Development | Miller Consulting Engineers | 05/2024, BB7

Series Index

Article 1 | Building Bones, Article 11-2023 | Kevin McCormick, PE SE, Partner

Article 2 | Building Bones, Article 12-2023 | Lane Jobe, PE SE, Partner

Article 3 | Building Bones, Article 01-2024 | Sherri Mansur, Controller

Article 4 | Building Bones, Article 02-2024 | CJ Marquardt, PE

Article 5 | Building Bones, Article 03-2024 | Michelle Juarez, PE

Article 6 | Building Bones, Article 04-2024 | Ben Steer, PE

Article 7 | Building Bones, Article 05-2024 | Jordan Toews, PE